Bill Kirchen: “Waxworks: The Best Of The Proper Years” (2020) Vinyl Review

In the summer of 2020, Bill Kirchen, known for his work in Commander Cody And His Lost Planet Airmen, released the compilation The Proper Years, which contained three solo albums on two CDs. At that same time, a best-of compilation of tracks from those three albums was released on vinyl. Titled Waxworks: The Best Of The Proper Years, this record features songs from Hammer Of The Honky-Tonk Gods, Word To The Wise and Seeds And Stems, the tracks grouped together by album. The record’s liner notes include some thoughts on each of the tracks chosen for this release.

Side One

The first three tracks on the record are from Hammer Of The Honky-Tonk Gods, which was released in 2006 and features Nick Lowe on bass and backing vocals. This record begins with that album’s title track, a rocking, rowdy, fun number that mentions several other famous musicians, including Buck Owens, Merle Haggard and Waylon Jennings. Bill Kirchen continues in the country vein for “Get A Little Goner,” a totally delightful tune addressing a woman who broke up with him but continues to show up. Check out these playful lyrics: “If you’re gonna get gone, get a little goner/If you’re gonna move along, move a little bit longer/You think I want you back, but you couldn’t be wronger.” Plus, it features some nice work by Bill Kirchen on guitar. The final of the three songs picked from Hammer Of The Honky-Tonk Gods is “Rocks Into Sand.” In the liner notes, Bill Kirchen mentions how this song was written in response to those lunatics who wanted evolution removed from school curricula and replaced by creationism. It has a more serious sound. Here is a taste of the lyrics: “Long before fish ever walked on land/Time was turning rocks into sand.”

The record then moves into material from his 2010 release, Word To The Wise, the most heavily represented of the three albums on this release, and one that features several special guests. That album’s title track is a fun tune with an old-time style, beginning with a delightful instrumental section featuring some excellent work on guitar. Then the opening lines are delivered as spoken word, like a conversation. And that conversation is between Bill Kirchen and Dan Hicks. Dan Hicks also joins Bill on guitar. And if the song couldn’t possibly become more enjoyable, it also includes some scat, which at one point moves toward yodeling. So, yeah, this tune has everything. The fun vibes continue with “Bump Wood,” a totally enjoyable boogie featuring some delicious guitar playing followed by an equally fun lead by Austin de Lone on piano. Then Elvis Costello joins Bill Kirchen on vocals for “Man In The Bottom Of The Well,” a slower, heavier number with an undeniable power, a thunder that rumbles up from below. It’s a seriously cool track to wrap up the first side of the album.

Side Two

The second side continues with music from Word To The Wise, beginning with “Time Will Tell The Story,” a tune dripping with cool, especially because of his guitar work. “And the howl becomes a whisper/Now turns into then/Time will tell the story/And the grass will grow again.” Maria Muldaur joins him on vocals for “Ain’t Got Time For The Blues,” the final track chosen from Word To The Wise for this compilation. This is another delightful track, a wonderful duet, the two sounding so good together. Austin de Lone plays both piano and organ on this one, and his work is another big part of this song’s appeal.

Then we get a bit of material from Bill Kirchen’s 2013 release Seeds And Stems, beginning with a playful country number titled “Truck Stop At The End Of The World,” a song that was also included on his 2001 album Tied To The Wheel. The end of the world has been on our minds lately again, as a third of our nation has become completely unhinged, and things are less than stable in other parts of the world too. But have we been giving enough thought to truck stops and truck drivers after the destruction (apart from those idiots in Canada, I mean)? Well, this song addresses that topic. Here is a taste of the lyrics: “Well, there’s a mass of twisted steel where the cities used to stand/And there’s a foul green haze settled in over the hand/There ain’t nothing underneath that poison gas/But crusty old truckers, and we’re all hauling ass/To the truck stop at the end of the world.” That’s followed by “Womb To The Tomb,” another song in which trucks play a big part. It’s a strange waltz of death and doom, but also a helping hand. “The only trace of that trucker I saw was a ghostly light/And in five minutes flat I was up running right/I put a truck driver’s tape in the deck to settle my nerves.” I can’t help but love this song.

The album concludes with a cover of Bob Dylan’s “The Times They Are A Changin’” that was originally included on Transatlanticana, which was released in 2016. This is a rocking version. Bill Kirchen mentions in the liner notes that he was present at the Newport Folk Festival when Dylan went electric. We are living in strange times. Remember the joke in Bob Roberts, “Times Are Changin’ Back”? Well, all of the twisted jokes about the right wing have come true. Scary. This song has a different vibe about it now, but its appeal is still strong, and Bill Kirchen does a great job with it.

Record Track List

Side One

1. Hammer Of The Honky-Tonk Gods
2. Get A Little Goner
3. Rocks Into Sand
4. Word To The Wise
5. Bump Wood
6. Man In The Bottom Of The Well

Side Two

1. Time Will Tell The Story
2. Ain’t Got Time For The Blues
3. Truck Stop At The End Of The World
4. Womb To The Tomb
5. The Times They Are A-Changin’

Waxworks: The Best Of The Proper Years was released on July 24, 2020.